Did you know that Jack Kirby’s first signed work was one that he really wasn’t terribly proud of? Red Raven Comics #1 (August 1940) was the first and only appearance of the doomed bird-man. Of course, the Red Raven starts out innocently enough, as a helpless baby clinging to his mother. Then, things begin to get weird. When the China Clipper aircraft that the two are on is thrown off course deep in the Pacific, the innocent baby finds himself on a bizarre, gravity-free, floating island in the clouds inhabited by winged bird-men and their strange bird-king. Rather than kill the little “waif,” the King decides to raise him into a strong, peaceful, man – who will bring charity and love to a wicked world. And things seem to go well until the little tyke reaches his 20th birthday, whereupon he is given the name of the Red Raven, a set of wings (though no one really knows where he put them…), and is sent to earth to right all wrongs.

It doesn’t quite work out that way.

Dressed in a respectable suit and tie, the Red Raven comes to earth looking every bit a gentleman. That’s when he starts beating people up and defying the police. Things get even more incoherent when the Red Raven is abruptly taken to the underground lair of the ruthless Zeelmo, who tosses him into a dungeon (after denouncing him an “impudent dog”). But just when you start to think that 20 years of proper bird-teaching has gone down the drain, fate steps in and a beautiful girl is tossed into the dungeon with him. Without warning, the Red Raven morphs from a dapper suit to a red clad bird-hero, complete with those hitherto hidden “membranous wings.”

The antics continue, with the Red Raven abandoning the gal and traveling to his gravity-free homeland. One particularly amusing panel features a gaggle of reporters pondering his strange escape, with one reporter prophetically announcing, “This is too much for me.” As the hare-brained tale continues, you’ll likely find yourself agreeing with him.

But before long the Red Raven returns, with a specially made element detector, ready to rid society of Zeelmo’s wicked, gold-hoarding henchmen (not to mention his successor, the purple-suited Ratoga, a vile creep set on world-domination). He feigns his own death, drowns the henchmen in their own gold…and still doesn’t get the girl.

Have you had enough? Well, Kirby had too. The last panel of the Red Raven tale previews the second of a three-issue battle adventure featuring the already popular Human Torch (The ongoing battle, Human Torch vs. Sub-Mariner, took place in Marvel Comics #8-10). Because of the popularity of Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, they both ultimately got their own titles, and what would’ve been Red Raven #2 comics became Human Torch #2.

Why was Kirby so unhappy with the Red Raven? There are a few theories. Perhaps he thought the concept of his origins were too similar to those of the Sub-Mariner? Both feature a bizarre race of unknown people, led by a king, inhabiting a mystical land (whether above or below the sea). Both characters can fly, and both have brief but significant scenes with their mothers. Or perhaps, with the dawn of the Red Falcon Air Ranger a few years earlier, Kirby had second thoughts about the color red? Or maybe it was inconsistencies that kept popping up in the story? Where, for example, did those huge red wings come from? Why does the cover of the story feature scenes and characters never mentioned inside? All of these things could’ve contributed to Kirby’s dissatisfaction with the winged wonder.

But for all his flaws, the Red Raven hasn’t quite flown into oblivion. Today, collectors revere Red Raven #1 as among the most rare and most valuable of comic books.